Raiffeisen Bank International AG Makes New Investment in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK)

Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ:SBLK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 32,455 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 18,422 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,063 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 22,482 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,129 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. grew its stake in Star Bulk Carriers by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 25,103 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares during the period. 33.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SBLK shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Star Bulk Carriers from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Star Bulk Carriers from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $22.05.

Star Bulk Carriers Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SBLK opened at $16.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.71 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.86. Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has a twelve month low of $12.06 and a twelve month high of $27.47.

Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ:SBLK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The shipping company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.21. Star Bulk Carriers had a net margin of 24.08% and a return on equity of 12.48%. The business had revenue of $159.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $162.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Star Bulk Carriers Corp. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Star Bulk Carriers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Star Bulk Carriers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.10%.

Star Bulk Carriers Profile

Star Bulk Carriers Corp., a shipping company, engages in the ocean transportation of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. Its vessels transport a range of bulk commodities, including iron ores, minerals and grains, bauxite, fertilizers, and steel products. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned a fleet of 116 dry bulk vessels with combined carrying capacity of 13.1 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) consisting of Newcastlemax, Capesize, Post Panamax, Kamsarmax, Panamax, Ultramax, and Supramax vessels with carrying capacities between 53,489 dwt and 209,537 dwt.